Poor wages, lack of government support and irregular supply of cotton are some of the problems that are haunting weavers employed in khadi units in the State.
Many of the weavers earn only Rs 60-80 per day, which is less than the minimum wage prescribed by the government.
“I have been associated with the industry for the past 10 years. Some of the weavers engaged in khadi village industrial units get paid Rs 3 a hank (coil of woven cloth). One can produce a maximum of 25 hanks a day. The problems are aplenty. We need enough support from the government. People are ready to take up jobs but there are not enough resources,” says 50-year-old Gulabi Hari Deshpande. She works in a khadi textile manufacturing unit in Uttara Kannda district.
The uniform wage fixed by the Centre’s Khadi and Village Industries Commission is Rs 3 a hank. However, Karnataka State Khadi and Village Industries Board chief executive officer L Radhakrishna recently declared that a decision was taken to give an incentive to each weaver so that their daily earnings would go up by Rs 150. However, this has yet to come into effect. Gulabi also raised other issues like short supply of cotton, which was hitting the wages of villagers.
“We do not get enough supply of cotton. Though there is enough demand for khadi products, we are unable to manufacture due to short supply,” she adds.